Jesus: The Meaning of Christian Life!

Sunday, February 4, 2024

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jb 7:1-4,6-7; 1 Cor 9:16-19,22-23; Mk 1:29-39

This Sunday invites us to understand Jesus as the answer to our human existential crises. 

Viktor Frankl wrote his book Man’s Search for Meaning and developed ‘logotherapy’ (‘healing through meaning’), which is a therapeutic approach that helps people find meaning in their lives. It focuses on the human ability to endure hardship and suffering through a search for purpose and holds that life has meaning under all circumstances, including the most undesirable. The Austrian psychiatrist Frankl, who himself lived in a Nazi concentration camp, strongly believed that humans are motivated by a strong ‘will to meaning’ and we make our choice to find it. In this regard, he famously said, ‘Those who have a ‘why’ to live can bear with almost any ‘how.’’

Viktor Frankl’s ‘human search for meaning’ finds its echo in Jesus’ life and mission, making it the solution to life’s drudgery. 

The first reading from the book of Job highlights human struggle. After his loss and suffering, Job does not find life worth living. For him, life is hard and filled with labor. He has nothing to look forward to but further misery. His nights are sleepless, and his days are swift and hopeless. Talking about the impermanence of life, Job expresses his anguish and bitterness. 

In many different ways, Job’s feelings are very true of human life. There are times when we question our identity and existence. Sometimes, we wonder if there is any purpose in our lives. Other times, we ponder the relevance of our suffering and pain. With one sickness, we feel as if the world has come to an end. With one loss, we worry as if we are alone in the world. No one can deny that, from time to time, a feeling of nothingness or emptiness pervades our lives. The list goes on and on. 

While all these can be true, Jesus gives us answers, or rather, Jesus becomes the answer to all our existential problems. 

A Life of ‘Movement’: To discover Jesus’ answer, we need to analyze the Gospel. The first answer that Jesus gives in the Gospel is his ‘movement.’ There is a lot of movement in today’s Gospel. 

Jesus ‘leaves’ the synagogue. He ‘enters’ Simon’s house. Jesus ‘approaches’ Simon’s mother-in-law to heal her. Then the following morning, Jesus ‘leaves’ and ‘goes off’ to a deserted place. When the disciples tell him that everyone is looking for him, Jesus invites them to join him to ‘go’ on to the nearby villages. Along with his disciples, Jesus ‘goes’ to their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons. 

It is not only Jesus who keeps moving but those with him too. People who benefit from him and people who want to be healed by him constantly move too. For instance, Simon’s mother-in-law waits on them as soon as she is healed. Simon’s mother-in-law means that we are healed to move and serve. In the evening, the whole town is gathered at the door so that Jesus will heal them. Then Jesus moves to neighboring villages along with his disciples. 

In sum, when we look at Jesus, we understand that our search for meaning finds its answer in his constant movement, which is the antidote to a boring and meaningless life. Like a running river, Jesus keeps moving throughout the day, reaching out to people and helping them to be on their feet by healing and consoling them. 

A Life of Purpose: Jesus had a strong purpose in life – to announce the coming of God’s Kingdom. His life is spent on that mission. Proclaiming the coming of God’s Kingdom, Jesus moves from one place to another. This mission becomes the reason for his creativity. He does not make his teaching boring. He is more inventive and engaging. He talks through parables. He teaches them through beautiful stories. More than that, Jesus shows the Kingdom in action by helping and healing others. Jesus helps people understand what God’s coming would look like, and he himself becomes the visible manifestation of it. Thus, we find Jesus’ life full of purpose. Jesus had his ‘why’ and he was driven by that. 

A Life of Love: If Jesus’ life has to be summarized in a word, it is ‘love.’ He offers it as a cure for us too. Jesus has shown us that a life of service is the most meaningful life. It is through his love and sacrifice that Jesus made his life ‘longer’ than anyone would have ever expected. Love is the reason for his longevity. Yes! Jesus has been living beyond 2000 years and is still alive and active. In today’s Gospel, we are shown three different times when we find Jesus fulfilling his mission of love. On the Sabbath morning, Jesus is teaching and healing. On the same day in the evening, he is found healing and helping people. The next day in the morning, he invites the disciples to join him in spreading love in neighboring villages. That is Jesus. Love became his identity and his life. 

It is after knowing this Jesus that Paul, in the second reading, feels compelled to say, ‘Woe to me if I do not preach the Good News.’ Paul clearly shows that knowing Jesus means falling in love with him. Because of his profound love for Jesus, Paul considers himself a slave and becomes all things to all. In sum, for Paul, life is worth living if only it is consumed with love for Jesus and spreading the same. 

Job’s existential questions are true. But truer is the answer that Jesus Himself is or becomes. If we want to know what it is to pursue meaning in life by following Jesus, Paul is our example. 

Jesus is the liberating, consoling, empowering, and enlivening Good News. Only He can be the meaning of our lives.

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar